Running multiple simulive Zoom webinars at once

[clionado]

Hi folks,

I'm looking at this article and I still have a couple of questions on Zoom simulive webinars.
1. Can we run multiple at once from the same Zoom account? We have 'normal' webinars running at the same time. Is it possible to have multiple simulive or live webinars at once?
2. Is it possible to run one without any chat support? Or to have a way where we are notified internally if there's a question in the chat (Like in eWebinar)

Thanks,
Cliona

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @clionado.

Sorry, but the answer is either "it depends" or "it's complicated."  But I'll tell you what I know.

I'm assuming you have (or hope to acquire) a Zoom Events or Zoom Session license.  There are TWO types of each license:

• What Zoom originally called an Unlimited license, now also referred to as Subscription or SaaS (Software as a Service) license in several places.  I will refer to this as a Subscription license here... since you will soon realize the license is not "unlimited".
• A Pay Per Attendee license, often referred to as a PPA license, the term I'll use here.

With a Subscription License, you can only have one Hub... the place where all of your events/sessions live.  This document on concurrency of events clearly states that you can't have two simultaneous events scheduled at any one time with a Subscription license.  Note that you can schedule concurrently in DRAFT, then publish one session successfully, but when you attempt to publish second one, you'll get an error:

With a PPA license, "there is no concurrent event constraint within the same hub," as the article states.  This is attendees at each event are "charged" to your account separately.  Allowing concurrency just charges you for the collective number of attendees.

Now there's another situation, which you might be asking about.  With a Subscription license, you can also schedule Simulive webinars from the Zoom Account of the Hub/License holder.  But even there, you can't schedule multiple webinars "for yourself" at the same time.

So bottom line is no, you can't schedule concurrent stand-alone webinars on Zoom.US, and you can't schedule concurrent single-session webinars on a Subscription Zoom Events or Zoom Sessions license.

However... you can schedule multiple webinar sessions in a Multi-Session Zoom Event.  If these sessions are all related somehow, just tie them all together in a multi-session Zoom Event, and let people come to whichever session they want.  Alternatively, you can create multiple sessions and create ticketing that allows registration for only one session.  With that approach, you only need to be aware that the total number of attendees will be limited to your license limit.  If you have a Subscription Zoom Events 500 license, a total of 500 people can attend the entire multi-session event. (Small note: If it's a PAID event, the number of registrations is also limited to 500 in this case.  But if it's a FREE event, you can have more than 500 registrants... but only the first 500 people can enter; after that, new attendees who try to join will be greeted with an "over capacity" message.

Regarding your question about the Chat:  You can configure chat and Q&A however you want, but if you want to interact with Chat and/or Q&A during the event, a Host must be present - who will be in the Backstage area, with access to Chat and Q&A.

I have a client that runs fully stand-alone Simulive sessions.  During the run-up to the start of the presentation, attendees are told that chat is disabled, but if they have any questions, put them in the Q&A, and "if your question is not answered during the session, we'll get an answer to you via Email within a few days."  Then we harvest the Q&A right after the event, and the client's staff works on emailing the answers out during the next day or so.

In Zoom Events, as with most things, there is more than one way to peel an orange (et cetera)... or to make an event.  Reach out to me if you need some additional guidance.

[MGSR]

Hello @clionado,

Did you see the previous response from @Ray_Harwood?
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Have a great day!